Old and New
by Skully1992
Summary: They were once best friends until high school started, now Sasuke's just a prick and Naruto is the school's top loser. A little bit OOC. NarutoxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Stuck in a locker on the first day of his Senior year in high school; what a perfect way to start the morning. That prick thought it would be hilarious to knock his school books from his hands and onto the floor before shoving him into his open locker. The people around them had laughed and went on their way as the most popular kid in school picked on the loser of the school. Others were upset with the bullying but said nothing and left in hurry, not wanting to be subjected to the same misery.

What happened between them? They were such good friends once upon a time until they started their freshmen year in high school. It first started off with becoming rather quiet around him before it started to gradually get worse to the point where they started throwing fists. Him, Sasuke, and Sakura were as thick as thieves until then.

Sasuke Uchiha was his best friend from birth. His father and Sasuke's father were work partners and were friends as well, along with their mothers. Sasuke was socially accepted mostly because of his looks and money while he accepted the Uchiha because he liked him as a person.

Sasuke had raven black hair, eyes such a dark blue they looked black, and skin almost as pale as a sheet of paper. He was quiet most of the time, making him mysterious and one of the most wanted boy in school. He was intelligent and made sure to never use it against his best friend, until now that is. Now he uses it to belittle, mentally hurt, and scar him.

"He was never your friend, Naruto," the young man stuck in the locker said to himself, letting a few tears fall from his face. "He was only pretending. And Sakura is just too in love with that asshole to ever tell him what he's doing is wrong and unjustified. I think I hate her the most."

Sakura Haruno had been his and Sasuke's friend since elementary. She was beautiful with her green eyes and dyed pink hair that she had to cut short last year because of some kid who had accidentally gotten his large wad of gum stuck in her hair. She had admitted to him once that she was in love with Sasuke back in junior high, crushing his hope of ever dating her. Naruto was in love with her and charming ways a long time ago. Now he hated her with a passion, not because she was mean to him, no. She knew what Sasuke was doing was horrible and wrong, but she was too in love with Sasuke to tell him and turned the other way, pretending she hadn't seen anything. She kept her distance as well.

And because Sasuke was so popular and was always seen beating up Naruto, all the other bullies decided that it would make them look good in the Uchiha's eyes. That lasted for only week before they started keeping their distance. Whatever happened, Sasuke was the cause of it; he was the only one who as allowed to torture him. That didn't mean it kept everyone from muttering hurtful words or moving as far away from him as fast as possible.

He had no friends to make him smile anymore. No friends that made him laugh, ask how his day was, help him feel better about himself. Now he felt like an empty shell of who he used to be. And he couldn't fight back anymore, lest he get in trouble while the Uchiha got off scott free; even when Naruto just sat there and took it, he still got in trouble. The teachers never believed him, telling him that Sasuke would never do such a thing because he was an honorable student and had perfect manners. So he stopped trying.

"Honorable my ass," Naruto mumbled. He weaved a hand through his short, light blond locks of hair while his sky blue eyes tried blinking away his tears. He used the sleeve of his light brown shirt to wipe his nose and dry his face.

"Hello?" a woman's voice called quietly from outside the locker.

Naruto peeked through the slits near the top of the locker door and saw it was a teenage girl, but he couldn't get a good enough view of her. "In here," he answered.

"What the hell?" She sounded pissed off, which made the blond wince, thinking that maybe she was mad at him for some unknown reason. She walked over towards the locker he was in and opened it, catching him as he stumbled out. "Holy crap, are you ok?"

Naruto was surprised by the worried question and nodded slightly, pulling away from the girl and standing upright once again. Now that he was out, he could see that he had never seen this girl before and realized that was probably why she wasn't running from him upon seeing his face. It wouldn't be long until she too would start avoiding him.

"Thanks," he mumbled and made to go, but a gentle hand on his arm stopped him.

"You sure you're alright? 'Cause I can beat up the guy who did this to you," she said with a smile.

Once again he was surprised by the act of kindness and shook his head. "No, I'm ok. Just some light teasing." He laughed nervously as she gazed at him in disbelief, but said nothing more on the topic, much to his relief.

"Well ok, then." The smile returned to her face. "Oh wait a second!" She began searching through her black and lime green shoulder bag.

Naruto took this time to take in her appearance. She was short, at least 5'3", and was rather skinny but fit. Her white hair on the sides of her head was almost buzzed cut short while the top was left a little longer with her bangs almost falling over her right eye. Her eyes were such a light blue that they almost looked silver with only a slim line of eye liner marked around them with a light shade of brown eye shadow covering her eye lids. Her boobs... she had no boobs, she was completely flat chested and he thought for a second that she might really be a he, but he mentally slapped himself at that.

Her cloths were cute and showed off her curvy hips and plump butt. She wore a lime green hoody with the brand name Volcome stitched in cursive over the left side where her breast should have been. White skinny jeans adorned her legs while girlish combat boots adorned her feet. Size 2, spiral gaged earrings made from ivory hung from her ears, a flower of some kind hanging off the ends in the front. She had no other accessories adorning her hands, wrists, neck, or face, just the earrings.

She was cute, he had to admit, but he had no hope of ever dating her or even being her friend. As soon as the rumors about him starts to fly towards her, she'll start ignoring him like everyone else.

"Awesome shorts, where'd you get them?"

Her question had knocked him back from his mind and made him look down at his black cargo shorts that barely reached his knees. "Uh, they're my dad's." He expected her to start making fun of him for wearing his dad's clothing but was astonished when she replied back with:

"Looks like he's got some good taste, lucky." She grinned up at him before going back to scrounging through her bag. "My mom had some really cute clothes but she's a few sizes bigger than me. Ah!"

Naruto jumped at the sudden exclamation as she pulled out a sheet of paper.

"Do you have your schedule with you?" she then asked.

The blond bent down to where his books were still on the ground and picked them up with the help of the new girl and placed them in his backpack that he pulled from his locker, keeping his schedule out. She took the paper from his hand and gazed back and forth from her schedule to his, her smile gradually increasing.

"Well it looks you and I have our first class together as well as 4th and 6th. Would you like to become my tour guide for the day?" She beamed up at him with hopeful eyes as she handed his schedule back to him.

There was no way in hell that he could say no to such a cute face. "Sure." He stuck out his hand. "I'm Naruto Namikaze."

She took and shook his hand, amazing him by her strong grip. "Bamey Berry."

Naruto tried to hold back a laugh at the name as she rolled her eyes, most likely used to this kind of reaction. It was cute though and it fit her. He cleared his throat to recompose himself and motioned for Bamey to follow him.

Their first class was math, his worst subject. Not because he was bad at it, no, he actually did fairly well in it. It was because it was the only class that he had with Sasuke. The little prick made it his mission to make Naruto look like a fool in front of the class and teacher. What made it worse was that Sasuke's desk was right behind his. At least it was one class and not all.

Upon reaching the door, he gave a small sigh and prepared himself and opened the large metal door. He was met with his favorite teacher, Iruka's, disappointed gaze. Getting these kinds of looks from other teachers was fine with him, he could brush them off. But from Iruka, the only teach that actually listened to him and helped him with his work, he couldn't brush it off and it made him feel like a terrible person.

"And why are we late Naruto Namikaze?" the brown haired, brown eyed man with the scare across his nose asked with his arms crossed.

Naruto could see Sasuke smirking at him and almost glared hatefully back. Almost.

"I-"

"Well you see teacher," Bamey cut the blond off and stood beside him. "I found him locked in his locker with his books on the floor in front of it."

The disappointment was gone and replaced with worry. "Are you alright? Who did this to you?"

"I'm fine, it was just a little teasing gone to far," Naruto reassured the man and went to sit down so that the subject could be dropped and refilled with questions for the new kid, who stayed up front next to Iruka.

"I'm Bamey Berry," she started, ignoring the giggles, "and I'm from Alaska. Anyone who tries to pick on me and my new friend Naruto will get punch to the face." All this was said with a smile as everyone in the room became quiet at the mentioning of the blond's name. She sat in the only empty seat of the room, which she was happy to find was on Naruto's right side.

"Uh, thank you Bamey. Now let's continue from where we left off."

And class began once again.

* * *

It was lunch time and he was sitting alone, looking around for Bamey. He had yet to see her and his dream of finally having a friend was starting to die with each passing minute. She probably heard all the rumors already and no longer wanted to see him. At least she made math a little more bearable for him today, because every time Sasuke made to shove his chair with his foot or flick a pencil at him, one glare from Bamey made him stop and look away with a scowl.

With a sigh, he picked at his spaghetti with his fork, no longer feeling hungry. Fifteen minutes into lunch and his dream was gone. He was about to stand up, throw his food away, and go sit outside when a familiar head of white hair squeezed through the crowd, looking around until she spotted him and walked towards him with a warm smile. She sat down across the table from him and opened her lunch bag, pulling out PP&J sandwich and a pink can that said Peace Tea in the front; pink lemonade on top.

"Hey," she greeted before taking a large bite from her sandwich. "Sorry, I got a little lost trying to find my way here."

"Hey," Naruto greeted back slowly. "Uh, why are you sitting with me?"

She looked at him in confusion and swallowed before answering. "Because that's what friends do, they sit next to each other."

She still wanted to be friends with him? Naruto became little skeptical at this and thought maybe she was only playing with him, leading him along to his next assault. The reason why she was late to lunch was because she was planning with some other kids, or maybe even with Sasuke, to pull a cruel prank on him. Apparently, his distrust showed on his face.

"Look, Naruto," Bamey started gently, putting her sandwich down. "I'm not like those other assholes and pricks here. I truly want to be your friend if you'll let me. I want to get to know you and I'll let you get to know me. I've heard the rumors running up and down the halls, but I know from the look on your face that they're not true. I don't think you're a loser, I don't think your stupid, and I don't believe you're gay, but if you were who the hell cares. Who you love is no one elses business but yours."

She stood up and walked around the table to sit next to him. She held his gaze and gave a half grin. "If that one pompous asshole with the duck butt for hair bothers you again, let me know and I'll give him a a taste of his own medicine." She gave his forehead a light kiss, making him blush, and pulled her food towards her so she could stay sitting next to the blond.

What felt like a long time, he grinned in pure happiness. He thanked her and started eating as well. She nodded back and handed him a bag of fruit snacks which he gladly accepted.

* * *

The rest of the school day went by better than expected. After she declared loudly in the hallway that Naruto was her friend and she didn't give a shit what anyone else thought and if they had a problem then they could bring it up with her and she'll gladly beat their ass, she held his hand and let him lead her to her next class before going to his. Let's just say that he was left alone after that and was protected from Sasuke. She even defended him in the classes they had together and made the teachers look like fools. And if they tried to fail her or give bad grades that she didn't deserve, she wouldn't lay down and take it and would most likely have them fired since the principle was a fair and respectable man.

The two were walking out together, side by side and planning on spending the day together to strengthen their new found friendship. Naruto had already called his parents to let them know he was going out with a friend, to which his mother squealed in excitement.

"Oh shoot, I forgot my Ipod! I'll be right back!" Bamey said and hurriedly went back into the school, leaving Naruto alone on the concrete steps.

The blond couldn't help but smile as his eyes followed her until she disappeared through the doors. He wasn't expecting a fist to his face though and tumbled down the stairs and gripped his jaw in pain. Looking up, he tensed when he saw dark eyes glaring back down at him. He glared back and stood up, hand still on his jaw.

"Want do you want Uchiha? Came to torture me some more?" Naruto hissed as he dropped his hand back to his side. He was fed up with his once best friend's attitude. He didn't care if he got kicked out of the school, he was going to show that stuck up asshole a thing or two.

"Seems like someone got their courage back. Looks you need to relearn your place," Sasuke said with a smirk, chuckling when Naruto raised his fists. "You think you can fight against me and win?"

It was Naruto's turn to smirk. "You know I can. You know I'm a lot stronger than you." And he was. He may not be as tall as the Uchiha, but he had more muscle and was quick on his feet. "That's why you're going to make this an unfair fight." He knew that a couple of the raven's lackeys were sneaking up behind him, getting ready to jump him.

"You touch him duck butt and I won't hesitate to break your face that girls seemed so fond of for some reason!" Bamey's voice cut from behind Sasuke.

The raven raised an eyebrow as turned towards the white haired girl. He chuckled and stepped towards her. "And what is small thing like you gonna do, hm? Or are you even a girl?" He looked down at her flat chest before placing a hand where her right breast should have been. "What's a flat chested girl like you gonna do?"

Without answering, she gripped his wrist with her right hand and started pushing his thumb in a direction it shouldn't go with her left hand. This had Sasuke kneeling down on his knees to try and pull away from the pain, but the more he tugged the more she pushed. The crowd that had gathered around them were astonished at the sight of their king down on ground, hissing pain while the new kid barely had to move a muscle. The lackeys that had been approaching Naruto quickly turned tail when Bamey turned her glare towards them.

"Please don't hurt him!" Sakura screamed from the side, eyes brimming with tears. "Let him go!" Her cries went ignored.

Ever so slowly, Bamey leaned down to whisper into his ear. "Whatever your problem is with Naruto, get over it. He has better things to do than be your play thing. And if I ever hear or see you hurting him again, I won't be coming to break your thumb." With that, a nice loud snap echoed through the crowd, making them wince, which was soon followed by Sasuke screaming out in pain and holding his thumb after she let go. "I had breast cancer you jerk."

Naruto stood there in shock and felt a little bad for the raven haired boy, but cruel delight over flooded it, making him grin slightly. But that was soon replaced with shock again when he realized that was happy Sasuke got his thumb broken, making him feel sick to his stomach. Yes, he wanted Sasuke to feel pain, but he never thought about breaking anything. Bruising yes, breaking no. He watched as the Uchiha stood up, cradling his left hand to his chest, Sakura worrying over him, before Bamey started to lead him away and towards her car.

He got into the dark blue GMC Sonoma and stayed silent as she drove out of the parking lot, only speaking to give her directions to his house. He could feel her eyes on him every so often, but he was happy that she chose not to say anything.

When they finally reached his home, Bamey finally opened her mouth. "I can tell that you're not happy with me."

"..."

"And now I know that those rumors about you and Sasuke being friends is true."

"..."

"I'm sorry, I overreacted."

Naruto snorted. "We've known each other barely a day and you go and break someone's thumb because you don't like how they treated me. You do know you're gonna be in so much trouble."

Bamey nodded, not wanting to look at his face. "Yeah. I just... tend to overreact when it comes to bullying. I used to be bullied as kid because of my acne and then because I had no breast. And it makes me sick seeing others not do anything about it." She let out a harsh sigh and dragged a hand through her hair. "And I know you can very well handle yourself, but from what I saw today the teachers don't believe you and think you're a troublesome child that needs to be disciplined. And that ass knows that and uses it to beat you so he won't get in trouble."

It was quiet for a few moments.

"When you guys were friends, did he ever complain about something constantly?" Bamey asked quietly, finally looking over towards Naruto who was looking back her.

He thought for a bit before answering. "He used to complain about his dad all the time. Saying that Fugaku hardly spent any time with him because he was always busy with work. Hell, he hardly even spoke to him unless he was in trouble."

Now that he really thought about it, Sasuke didn't start becoming distant until after his dad had given his brother Itachi a job at the office, spending loads amount of time with him and completely ignoring the younger son. Even though it was mostly to show Itachi the ropes, it took away what little time Sasuke and his father had together. Every time Naruto would try and ask him what was wrong, Sasuke would just brush him off and become more drawn in; he hardly said anything to Sakura as well. He didn't stop though, and kept bugging the Uchiha until the other finally snapped and hit him. At first Sasuke seemed surprised that he had hit his best friend, but then it fell back into his normal stoic face as he came at the blond and two rolled around on the ground, throwing punches.

Naruto had won that round but both of them had gotten into so much trouble by his father Minato. It would make sense though if Sasuke had kept the other bullies away from him, which meant that deep down the other still cared about him.

"Hm," the blond hummed to himself. "Could it be that's he's taking his frustration out on me?"

"Maybe," Bamey replied with a shrug. "Shit, I should probably apologize to him." She winced at that, obviously not wanting to. "Listen... maybe you should try talking to him."

He scoffed. "And talk about what? And how can I talk to him without him trying to break my face in?"

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever's on your mind and I can tie him down to a chair if I have to." Naruto chuckled at that. "Listen, I'll see you tomorrow maybe and let you think over what you might want to say to Sasuke, ok?"

He nodded and hopped out of the truck, pulling his pack back from behind his seat. He waved goodbye and walked up the driveway to his quaint two story house. He was glad he didn't see any of his parent's cars in the driveway, giving him the alone time he wanted. Kicking off his shoes as soon as he entered and taking off his jacket, he made his way into the kitchen to fix himself a snack before working on his homework in his room.

* * *

A/N: chapter 1 completed! I hope you all are enjoying this so far. Pleas read and review, constructive criticism is welcomed. I'll try and pop out some more chapter soon when I'm not very busy and am in the mood.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I hope you're all enjoying the story so far. For now on, the rest of the story will be written in Naruto's POV.**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Last night was rather embarrassing to say the least. My mother jumped on me as soon as she came home from the grocery store and asked me how my time out with my new friend went. I had told her that something had come up and Bamey had to go home. I should have said a boy's name or just said he, because as soon as I said the new girl's name, my mother got overly excited and started asking question after question about wither she was my girlfriend or at least a new found crush.

Of course I said no to all of these. We were just friends and I couldn't really see myself with her like that; we just met... and she kind of creeped me out with the whole thumb breaking thing yesterday.

Speaking of yesterday, I wonder if Fugaku went after her for what she did to his son. It wouldn't surprise me if Sasuke went crying for his daddy. I hope she's ok, even though she looks like she could handle herself pretty well, especially if she's from Alaska and survived breast cancer. I was actually really surprised when she said she had had breast cancer; how young was she when it happened? I wasn't about to ask her since it looked like it was a tough subject for her.

I should have asked for her phone number before she dropped me off, but then if my mother ever found out she would be squealing my ear off for who knows how long. The last time I ever had another girl's phone number was when I was dating Hinata back before Sasuke had gotten out of hand with his verbal and physical abuse. It hadn't last long, maybe a few months before she suddenly had to move to another country and we both agreed that a long distance relationship wasn't worth it since we barely knew each other.

I do miss her stuttering and her blushing face... and her huge boobs. I bet Bamey had huge boobs before they were cut off... ok, off topic and totally not appropriate.

Swaying back and forth on my feet, I wait patiently at the front doors of the school for Bamey, hoping she would be coming today. Apparently, after her little stunt yesterday, people had gotten the message to leave me the hell alone. The students wouldn't even look at me when they walked by, staying clear from me as much as possible. It was kind of nice, actually, not having to worry about someone tripping me or pushing me over, or even telling me how much of a low life and dead last I am.

This school, Konoha High, used to be a bully free zone since everyone knew each other in this small town, but after that fight with Sasuke those few years ago, people started to show their true colors. One by one, the jocks in the football and basketball teams, hell even in the swim team, decided that making others feel bad made them feel better. It was sad really.

A few minutes later, I saw her truck pull into the student parking lot and park not too far away. Today, her hair was styled into a Mohawk and her gauges were replaced with wooden flower plugs. She wore a white long sleeve shirt and blue under bust corset. Her shirt stopped mid thighs and instead of jeans she wore leggings today. He then stared at her shoes, they were knee high converse with belts going across the lacing in the front, stopping just where the zippers were in the back.

Yup, she was cute and I would totally be into her if she had some boobage. Don't get mad at me, I'm just a guy and that's how we think, though it is wrong to just be into her body and not her as a person.

As she got closer, I noticed that she had a labret nestled nicely underneath her bottom lip. She must not have been wearing it yesterday, but I thought I did notice the small hole there yesterday.

She grinned at me and bid me good morning.

I greeted her back before asking, "So did Sasuke's father come for your blood yesterday?"

She shook her head. "Nope, not even a phone call. I guess little duck butt boy had too much pride to go running to daddy." She chuckled before sighing. "I'll apologize to him when we get to class."

I nodded and we headed off towards math. We had a few minutes left before the bell rang, so that would give her enough time to talk to Sasuke. The classroom went silent when I opened the door. I looked back towards where Sasuke was sitting and wince at the sight of his left hand. His thumb was covered in a white cast as well as half his palm down to his wrist. He glares at us, me more than Bamey, with such hate I couldn't help but draw back behind Bamey a little.

Slowly, both Bamey and I walk over to our desks. I sit down while she continued over towards the raven haired boy, the class looking back and forth between the two as the tension rose. I could practically feel Sasuke's anger rolling off of him as he spoke.

"What the hell do you want? Come to break my other thumb?" His voice was dripping with chagrin as he gazed up at the white haired girl.

"I just wanted to apologize for my actions yesterday," she answered. She continued before Sasuke could open his mouth and tell her off. "It was uncalled for and inappropriate. I lost myself to my anger and ended up doing something I regret."

"If you think I'm going to forgive-"

"I'm not asking you to forgive me, I was just apologizing. Nothing more." She turned away from the enraged raven and took her seat next to me just as the bell rang, Iruka rushing in quickly and dropping his papers on his desk.

"Good morning class, I hope we all had a good first day of school yesterday," he said between pants. That's when he noticed Sasuke's hand. "Dear lord, what happened to your hand Sasuke?"

I stiffened, waiting for the prick to rat out Bamey.

There was a small pause before the Uchiha answered. "Landed wrong and broke my thumb at home yesterday," he answered coolly.

"Oh dear, well at least you didn't break anything else. I hope you heal quickly." Iruka began class, writing something on the board that I didn't notice since I had dozed off, thinking.

Why didn't Sasuke say anything? He could have easily gotten her in trouble and a few people in this class had seen everything and could testify with him. Maybe he didn't want to damage his dignity anymore by saying he had got beaten by a girl. That was probably it. No way he would have done that out of the kindness of his heart, if he even had one anymore. I continued dozing off throughout class while Bamey wrote down notes for me for later.

* * *

Every time someone asked about Sasuke's hand, he answered with the same thing that he had told Iruka. The few that had seen what really happened kept their mouth shut with one quick glare from the Uchiha. So maybe my thought of him protecting his dignity wasn't too far off. Yet, he left me alone, believing in Bamey's threat. I mean, who wouldn't believe her after what she had done to the raven haired boy.

I was on my free period now, walking through the halls towards the library to maybe finish up some homework to keep my evening free. I passed by some other students who were also on their free period and decided to pass time by playing their PSP and didn't notice as I walked by. I scoff when I recognized them as Shikamaru, the laziest and yet smartest person I have ever met, and Choji, Shikamaru's best friend who was also kind of fat-but never call him fat unless you want your face rearranged.

They were pretty decent guys. Shikamaru, the one playing the game, was always number one when it came to grades even though he was caught sleeping in class all the time. The teachers stopped trying to keep him up in class now since he got straight As anyways. Choji, watching the other play while eating a nutty buddy, was nice and made decent grades. The two were probably the only ones who actually talks to me without any hostility now and sometimes hung out with me after school. But I don't know if we would call each other friends just yet.

At my scoff, they look up and greet me before going back to their game. Obviously, what happened yesterday didn't scare them away. I smile and continue my way towards the library. Upon reaching it, however, I noticed that Mrs. Kurenai, the librarian, wasn't here. Maybe she was putting some books away in the back. I shrug and walk over towards the tables in the back, hidden by the many selves littered with books.

I stop and tense as I round the corner of one of the book selves. Sasuke, in all his gloomy, angsty self, was sitting at one of the tables at the very corner of the library, practically sitting in the shadows. He hasn't even noticed me yet and I hoped it stayed that way as I walk to a table far away from him. I look up and see that he still hasn't noticed me and I almost let out a relieved sigh when his dark eyes are suddenly looking into my own blue ones. I wince when I saw all that anger hidden in his eyes directed towards me.

I couldn't look away. All I could do was stare in confusion when anger gave way to hurt before he quickly looks back down at his studies. An urge suddenly swelled up inside me and before I could stop myself, I found myself walking over and sitting across the table from the raven, leaving my books and notes on the other table. I gulp down my nervousness as he looks at me in confusion, which he tried to cover up but failed.

I figured this was probably the best time to talk. No one else was around to spy on us or stick their nose into our business, no Kurenai to tell us to be quiet if we ended up yelling at each other, and we still had 30 minutes left to talk. That should be enough time, right? If not, at least I can get off what's on my chest and maybe fix a little with what happened between us; just enough that will make him come find me again so we can continue our talk later... hopefully.

It was quiet, besides the quiet buzzing of the florescent lights in the room, for a few moments before Sasuke decided to break it.

"What in god's name do you want?" he hissed. "Come to make fun of me? Sick Bamey on me again? Or are you here to gloat that you now have a guard dog?"

I keep my face blank as I reply with, "No. What Bamey did was wrong and she knows it, that's why she apologized. But that's not why I'm sitting here. I actually would have preferred staying way over there and finish up some homework."

"Then why don't you go do just that and leave me the hell alone." He went back to his studying and tried to ignore me.

I laugh bitterly at this. "Leave you alone? I've been asking you to leave me alone for the past three years when you started beating the shit out of me for no reason!" I hiss, trying to stay quiet. "And that's what I really came over here for, to ask why have you changed into some pathetic snob who get's his rocks off belittling others?"

"It's none of your damn business."

"Oh I think it is. I am the one getting picked on not just physically but verbally as well from the person who was my best friend. What the hell happened to you to make you do such a thing when the thought never crossed your mind before." I had raised my voice briefly as I stood up.

I was hurt and angry and I wanted to show him how much I hurt. Furiously, I pulled the sleeve up from my left arm to reveal something that I never would have thought of doing before all this..._shit_ happened between us. His eyes widened slightly when he looks down at my arm and wrist but quickly hides it by letting his bangs hide his face. I too look down at the scars that littered up and down my arm, sometimes crossing over each other. The pain that I caused to myself helped me take my mind off the many things I rather not think about what Sasuke had done to me that day or that week; it helped me forget, for at least a little while.

"This is all your fault," I hissed out with such anger that he cringed, eyes still hidden behind his bangs. "I do this so I can try and forgot everything that you have done to me. I don't give two shits what everyone else says or does to me, but you... you betrayed our friendship and stabbed me in the back!"

He flinches away from.

Taking a deep breath to calm myself down, I sit down as well while running a hand through my hair. "You probably don't give a rat's ass what I'm saying to you, but you know what? I still think of you as my best friend deep down in my heart. And you wanna know what I think?"

"..."

"I think you're mad at your father. I think you're letting your frustration out on me, which at first was fine until your words became more cruel and your fists started to hit harder, actually wanting to cause me pain." I try to look into his eyes but they were still shadowed behind his bangs, his lips pinched together to form a straight line. "And you know what else?"

"..."

"You should talk to your father. I don't care if you have to go see him at work, catch him as he's going to work, or even have to force him to talk to you at the dinner table." I pause, waiting for him to tell me I was wrong on my assumption. When he continued to sit there in silence, I knew I had been right.

Standing up, I grab my bag and walk out of the library without another word, not realizing that Kurenai was back at her desk and most likely heard just about everything I said. I had five minutes left to spare, not enough time to start anything besides make my way to my next class. I made it to my chemistry class just as the bell rang and kids came flying out of the room to hurry to their next period.

As I sit down, I let my head fall into my hands, covering my face as I thought back at what I had just showed Sasuke not even seven minutes ago. I had shown him something that even my parents didn't know and now he might go and exploit it around the school. I let out a deep sigh and sit back, slouching in my chair and gaze down at my desk as the teacher began today's lessons. I was too far into my thoughts to hear anything he was saying.

* * *

After school, I decided that I didn't want to go home and be alone with my thoughts... and my butterfly knife that was hidden underneath my mattress. During the summer, I had promised myself that I would stop with the cutting once school had started and now I was itching to get back home and watch the blade of my knife slice open my skin to let my blood bead out and down my wrist or arm. I shiver at the thought, disgusted with myself for actually thinking that way. It was all that heartless bastards fault.

A hand on my shoulder brought me back down to earth and I look to the side to see that it was Bamey with a look of concern written all over her face. She says nothing, however, waiting for me to tell her what was on my mind. When I say nothing, she just smiles lightly and grabs my hand to lead me to her truck. I follow without any hesitation and get inside the truck, immediately turning on the AC as soon as she starts her vehicle.

"So what do you want to do today?" she asks, keeping the truck in park as she waits for my answer.

"Anywhere but home," I reply. "I don't want to be alone today, even if my parents are home."

She nods and shifts into drive, taking off out of the parking lot and onto the high away from the city. I don't ask where we're going and watch her as she concentrates on the road. She drove with her left hand on the steering wheel with her right settled on her lap. Her seat was pushed as forward as far as it could go so her foot could reach the petals, the back of the seat settled back a little; classic rock playing quietly in the background.

The truck itself had a nice light blue interior with the seats made out of fabric rather than leather and two fold out seats behind the passenger and driver's seats. It smelt of shampoo and air freshener and was nice and clean with only a few stains here and there on the carpet. Everything inside looked original without anything being stripped out and replaced with something newer; the cassette player would testify if anyone didn't belief me. I smile when I saw a cassette adapter sticking halfway out of the player.

Fifteen minutes later, I noticed that we were out of Konoha's city limits and surrounded by trees. Bamey had then pulled into a dirt road that really needed to be grated for several minutes before turning into semi long and wide driveway. I watch as a house that kind of reminded me of a sort of warehouse revealed itself from the trees. A large shed, more liked shack, stood several yards away with barn like doors and stacks upon stacks of wood sitting underneath the lean-to attached to the shed.

After she parked, I got out and looked at the light blue metal siding of the house and questioned to myself mentally why would anyone want to live in a place like this. It wasn't bad look, just different. Any why metal siding? The house was two stories high with a large garage door, which probably meant the whole first floor was the garage. A set of metal stairs sat on the right side of the building and led up to a deck and a green house like entryway. My guess was that the front door was probably up there and not the one currently in front of me.

"Welcome to my humble abode," Bamey said with a grin, taking my hand and leading me inside the garage. I whistled at the size of it and at all the shelves filled with tools, car oils, gun powder, and other things I don't recognize. "My dad's in here most of the time when he's home, fixing on someone's car. He call's it his shop."

I nod and she leads me back outside and up the stairs. In the green house like entryway the heat suddenly became unbearable as the thermometer read that it was 90 degrees. There were also several planters filled with a variety of vegetables and fruit along the entrance way's walls. As she unlocks her door, I pick and eat some ripe and delicious strawberries and a couple of grapes.

There was a sudden tug at the back of my shirt and I was forcefully dragged inside the house. The inside was not something I was expecting. The walls were a light shade of real wood paneling, the ceilings white and smooth and sloped down-stopping a few feet from the ground, and the carpet was a light shade of gray. As soon as I walked in, I was in the kitchen with the stainless steal fridge about four feet in front of me.

"This is the kitchen as you can see with the living room on your right," Bamey said as she gave me a small tour of her house. "To your left you have the bathroom. Straight ahead you have my bedroom and my dad's." The doors to the bedrooms were closed and she made no motion of opening them. "It's a little small but it works." She shrugged. "I think my dad only got it because it reminded him of our old house back in Alaska."

I nod in understanding. "Wait, you keep talking about your dad; what about your mom?" I ask, curious.

"Oh she passed away when I was five," she answered like it was any normal question. "Don't remember her very much, but I do know that I got her drawing skills."

"Oh." I look down at the floor, thinking I had brought up a touchy subject like her breast.

She sets a gentle hand on my shoulder and gives me a small smile. "Hey, it's alright. I had gotten over my mom's death a long time ago and moved on with my life." She sits on the couch and motions for me to follow. "Changing topic, I heard that you let Sasuke have it today in the library. What did you say?"

I shrug, not really wanting to talk about it. "Just that he betrayed our friendship and stabbed me in the back. You know, that kind of stuff." She gave me an unreadable look but said nothing. "Look, I don't want to talk about it."

"Why, because you showed Sasuke something that you're regretting now?"

I gave her a look that I hope was confusion and asked, "What are you talking about?" Panic welled up inside me as she gave me a knowing look.

Without another word, Bamey unbuttons her pants and pulls them down to her knees. I quickly look away when she does this, but she prompted me to look back. As I did so, my eyes widen in shock at the faded scars that littered her thighs. She quickly pulls up her pants before I can even think to look and see what color her panties were and sits back down with a look of shame, hands clasped together on her lap.

"Remember when I told you yesterday that I was picked on for my acne and then my flat chest?" she asks me quietly.

"Yeah, but you don't seem to have a problem with acne now," I reply. It was true, her face was pretty much clear of any zits and blemishes except for the many pit scars that clustered around her cheeks.

"Yeah, I'll tell you about that in a minute. But back in junior high and freshmen year, I had it really bad and my dad couldn't afford to take me to a dermatologist. And somehow, most of the girls there had clean faces or were masters at make-up so they could cover them up really well. But I couldn't wear cover up or anything like that 'cause it clogged my pores and made it worse. And kids could be some of the most cruelest people on earth. I couldn't handle it sometimes and started cutting, doing it on my thighs or other places people wouldn't be able to see them." She sighed deeply as she traced a scar through her leggings.

"How did you stop?"

Her frown turned into a small smile at this and said, "I met someone in freshmen year in high school who helped me stand up for myself and made me feel good about who I was. She changed my life around and helped me become a bad ass." With a giggled, she gazed up at me and her smile began to grow. "And now I want to be the person who helps you if you'll let me. Not because I feel like I have to, but because I really want to as a friend."

I grin back and take her hand, intertwining her fingers with mine and wanting to feel the comforting warmth radiating off her palm and arm. "I'll try and let you in... I think I may already have though without realizing it."

She leans in and kisses my forehead before getting up and stepped over to her bedroom door, waiting for me to follow before she opens the door and leads me in. The walls and ceiling of her room looked the same anywhere else in the house except for the many pictures hanging on the walls. Some looked liked family pictures while others were drawn pictures of random things. She really did have some artistic skills, though they looked a little cartoonish rather than realistic. A twin bed sat in the very corner of the room, underneath her window, with a dresser across the room beside a small walk in closet.

"I draw anime," she announces from behind me on her bed, watching me looking at a particular drawn picture.

"Anime?" I ask over my shoulder before going back to looking at the rest of the photos.

"Yeah, you know like Japanese animation, or Japanese cartoons I guess you could say. I went through a very big faze back in junior high." She chuckles at this. "I still enjoy them, just not as crazy as I used to be."

I nod and sit next to her as she opens up her laptop that had been sitting on her bed when we walked in. "I actually made a couple of animations myself, though they're not very long. Here I'll show you" She clicks on an item on her desktop and a video began to play, Transylvania Lully-bye playing in the background.

The screen starts off dark before random animated scenes start to play, almost looking like a movie trailer. It was amazing and played so smoothly, it almost made me think that it was an actual preview for a movie. The music was soft while the images on the screen were kind of creepy, giving the video an eerie feel to it. From what I got from the video, it looked like a fairy tale story gone wrong.

"That was amazing," I complemented when the video ends.

"Thanks," she replies with a proud smile. "I've actually been working on a video for a project at school."

"How far have you gotten?"

"Not very far, I don't want to show it to anybody until it's completely done though."

She closes the laptop and sits Indian style on her bed to the side of me. I follow so that I was now facing her. That evening, we talked the rest of the day away; telling each other embarrassing stories, our likes and dislikes, our passions, and our goals. I wasn't surprised when she said she wanted to make animated movies. Bamey was, however, when I told her I wanted to become a swimming instructor.

Looks like we're hitting the pool this Saturday.

Around dinner time, I had gotten a call from my dad, who was worrying up a storm until I told him I was with the girl from yesterday and having dinner with her and maybe her father if he didn't come home late tonight. He immediately calmed down and made a suggestive comment, which made me blush a bright red and I hung up on him with a growl.

* * *

**A/n: chapter 2 complete. I hope you're liking this so far. Please review and tell me what you think. I'm planning on keeping this a short story, maybe 5 or 6 chapters long, before starting another one.**


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